THOMAS LARSON

A memoir is a story that focuses on the meaning and intensity of a singular relationship in the author’s life—unresolved feelings for a parent, a child, a sibling, a friend; coming to terms with a loss, an illness, a death; remembering a significant phase like childhood or adolescence or a period like college in which the writer was challenged or changed.

Join Thomas Larson, author of The Memoir and the Memoirist: Reading and Writing Personal Narrative, for a two-hour workshop in memoir writing. We begin by discussing the significant differences between traditional autobiography and contemporary memoir. Next we explore memoir’s demanding questions: Where do I begin? What is my focus? How do I discover the emotional truth of my story? How do I write about the living? With numerous writing prompts, we look at the mainstays of the memoir form: truth-telling and self-disclosure; sudden versus long-ago memoir; good and bad therapeutic writing; and the importance of metaphor and myth in the personal life.

• These descriptions can be used for advertising or promotion.
• Author photo, book cover, posters, and postcards are available upon request.
• Venues must include desks or tables that accommodate a minimum of 20 participants.

Here's a descriptive outline of my workshop from a satisfied attendee in Houston, April 2009.

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price: $100 per hour
typically I sell my book (PB: $15)

REFERENCES:

Terry Ley, director, OLLI Memoir Group, Auburn, AL This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Heather Goodwillie, editor, San Diego Reader, 619-235-3000, x283 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Judy Reeves, writer and writing instructor, 619-284-1343, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it